Repeater system and method for high-performance communication

ABSTRACT

A repeater system includes a first repeater device to receive a first beam of radio frequency (RF) signal from a first network node, and a second repeater device to receive a second beam of RF signal from the first network node. The first repeater device synchronizes and controls the second repeater device to concurrently provide the first beam and the second beam of RF signal to a second network node. A plurality of measurements associated with network nodes and repeater devices is acquired. A plurality of signal parameters is selected at the first and second repeater devices for a first beam and a second beam of RF signal, respectively, such that a cross-leakage of first beam on the second beam of RF signal and vice-versa at the second network node is reduced and the gain and a phase of first beam and the second beam of RF signal is adjusted.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This Application makes reference to, claims priority to, and claimsbenefit from, and is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/871,705, which was filed on May 11, 2020, whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/846,179,which was filed on May 10, 2019.

The above referenced Application is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to communication systems.More specifically, certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to arepeater system and a method for high-performance communication, forexample, data communication.

BACKGROUND

Wireless telecommunication in modern times has witnessed advent ofvarious signal transmission techniques and methods, such as use of beamforming and beam steering techniques, for enhancing capacity of radiochannels. In accordance with such techniques, a transmitter radiatesradio waves in form of beams of radio frequency (RF) signals to avariety of RF receiver devices. The conventional systems which usetechniques such as beamforming and beam steering for signal transmissionmay have one or more limitations. For example, a beam of RF signalstransmitted by conventional systems, may be highly directional in natureand may be limited in transmission range or coverage.

In certain scenarios, an RF receiver device may be situated at adistance which is beyond transmission range of the transmitter, andhence reception of the RF signal at the RF receiver device may beadversely affected. In other scenarios one or more obstructions (such asbuildings and hills) in path of the RF beam transmitted by thetransmitter, may be blocking reception of the RF signal at the RFreceiver device. For the advanced high-performance communicationnetworks, such as the millimeter wave communication system, there isrequired a dynamic system that can overcome the one or more limitationsof conventional systems. Moreover, the number of end-user devices, suchas wireless sensors and IoT devices are rapidly increasing with theincrease in smart homes, smart offices, enterprises, etc. Existingcommunication systems are unbale to handle such massive number ofwireless sensors and IoT devices and their quality-of-service (QoS)requirements. In such cases, it is extremely difficult and technicallychallenging to support these end user devices in order to meet datacommunication in multi-gigabit data rate. Moreover, latency andunreliable data communication resulting in erroneous data recovery atthe destination node are other technical problem with existingcommunication systems and network architecture.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosureas set forth in the remainder of the present application with referenceto the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A repeater system and methods for high-performance communication,substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at leastone of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system with gain and phase control, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 7 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an exemplary scenario of implementation ofa repeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 9 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 10, FIG. 11, and FIG. 12 are illustrations that depict dynamicallocation of repeater devices of a repeater system in a network, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary repeater device of a repeater system, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary network node, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B, collectively, is a flowchart that illustrates amethod for high performance communication, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain embodiments of the disclosure may be found in a repeater systemand method for high-performance communication, for example, datacommunication. The repeater system and method of the present disclosurenot only improves data transfer rates between at least two network nodesas compared to existing wireless communication systems (e.g. a cellularnetwork or other wireless networks), but also enables almost near zerolatency communication and an always-connected experience. The repeatersystem may deploy a plurality of repeater devices, which may beconfigured to perform distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)operations, and enhance the wireless communication capacity, coverage,and reliability between a source network node and a destination networknode, for high-performance communication. In the following description,reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a parthereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a communicationsystem 100 that may include a repeater system 102. The repeater system102 may include a plurality of repeater devices, such as a firstrepeater device 104 and a second repeater device 106. In thisembodiment, the first repeater device 104 may include a first receivingantenna array 104A and a first transmitting antenna array 104B. Thesecond repeater device 106 may include a second receiving antenna array106A and a second transmitting antenna array 106B. The communicationsystem 100 may further include a first network node 108 (e.g. Node A)and a second network node 110 (e.g. Node B).

The repeater system 102 may include a plurality of repeater devices,such as the first repeater device 104 deployed at a first location andthe second repeater device 106 deployed at a second location. Each ofthe plurality of repeater devices, such as the first repeater device 104and the second repeater device 106, includes suitable logic, circuitry,and interfaces that may be configured to communicate with the firstnetwork node 104 (i.e. the Node A) and the second network node 106 (i.e.the Node B). The repeater system 102 enables data communication in amulti-gigabit data rate. In accordance with an embodiment, the repeatersystem 102 may support multiple and a wide range of frequency spectrum,for example, 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G (including out-of-band frequencies).Examples of the each of the plurality of repeater devices of therepeater system 102 may include, but is not limited to, a 5G wirelessaccess point, a multiprotocol wireless range extender device, anevolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (NR) dualconnectivity (EN-DC) device, a NR-enabled repeater device, a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN)-enabled device, or a wireless personal areanetwork (WPAN)-enabled device, a MIMO-capable repeater device, or acombination thereof.

The first network node 108 (e.g. Node A) refers to a source networknode. Examples of the first network node 108 may include, but is notlimited to, a base station (e.g. an Evolved Node B (eNB) or gNB), asmall cell, a remote radio unit (RRU), or other network nodes orcommunication device provided in a network.

The second network node 110 (e.g. Node B) refers to a destinationnetwork node. Examples of the second network node 110 may include, butis not limited to, a smartphone, a customer-premises equipment (CPE), awireless modem, a user equipment, a virtual reality (VR) headset, anaugmented reality (AR) device, an in-vehicle device, a home router, acable or satellite television set-top box, a VoIP base station, or anyother customized hardware for telecommunication.

In operation, the communication system 100 may employ the repeatersystem 102 to execute a distributed MIMO communication over theplurality of repeater devices, such as the first network node 108 (i.e.the node A or the source) and the second network node 110 (i.e. the nodeB or the destination). In some embodiments, the plurality of repeaterdevices of the repeater system 102 may be used for transporting databetween the first network node 108 (i.e. the node A) and the secondnetwork node 110 (i.e. the node B). As shown in the FIG. 1, theplurality of repeater devices of the repeater system 102 may be deployedand configured to enhance the wireless communication capacity, coverage,reliability between the between the first network node 108 (i.e. thenode A) and the second network node 110 (i.e. the node B).

The first repeater device 104 may be configured to receive a first beamof radio frequency (RF) signal from the first network node 108 (i.e. thenode A) via a first communication path. The first beam of RF signal maycarry a first data stream 112A (also represented as S1) transmitted bythe first network node 108. The second repeater device 106 may beconfigured to receive a second beam of RF signal from the first networknode 108 via a second communication path. The second beam of RF signalmay carry a second data stream 112B (also represented as S2) transmittedby the first network node 108 (same Node A). The first repeater device104 may be a master repeater device. The first repeater device 104 maybe further configured to synchronize and control the second repeaterdevice 106 to concurrently provide the first beam of RF signal and thesecond beam of RF signal to the second network node 110 (i.e. the nodeB). Alternative stated, as a general mode of operation, the firstnetwork node 108 (i.e. the Node A) may be configured to deploy multiplebeams of RF signals with multiple streams transported over such beams.Each beam of RF signal may be picked up by a repeater device (e.g. thefirst repeater device 104 through a receiver antenna array), amplified,and re-transported through a different antenna array that communicatesthe beam of RF signal towards the second network node 110 (i.e. the nodeB). For example, the first receiving antenna array 104A may beconfigured to receive the first beam of RF signal carrying the firstdata stream 112A (S1) from the first network node 108 (i.e. the node A)and re-transmit the first beam of RF signal carrying the first datastream 112A through the first transmitting antenna array 104B to thesecond network node 110 (i.e. the node B). Similarly, the secondreceiving antenna array 106A may be configured to receive the secondbeam of RF signal carrying the second data stream 112B (S2) from thefirst network node 108 (i.e. the node A) and re-transmit the second beamof RF signal carrying the second data stream 112B through the secondtransmitting antenna array 106B to the second network node 110 (i.e. acommon destination, node B). The second network node 110 (i.e. node B)may be configured to concurrently receive the first beam of RF signaland the second beam of RF signal from different repeater devices of therepeater system 102. In other words, at the second network node 110(i.e. node B), multiple beams of RF signals may be received from thefirst repeater device 104 and the second repeater device 106 (i.e.repeaters #1 and #2) concurrently. These received signals may then bejointly or independently processed to recover the original data streams(S1 and S2).

In accordance with an embodiment, one or more implementations may bejointly or separately supported by the communication system 100. Forexample, in a first implementation, spatial diversity with distinguishedbeams may be performed. In order to achieve spatial diversity, the firstdata stream 112A (i.e. S1) and the second data stream 112B (i.e. S2) maybe identical. By communicating identical data streams via the firstcommunication path and the second communication path, spatial diversityis achieved, which in turn improves the reliability and robustness of alink between the first network node 108 (i.e. the node A) and the secondnetwork node 110 (i.e. node B). In this case, the second network node110 (i.e. node B) receives the same data stream through two differentcommunication paths and via two repeater devices (i.e. the firstrepeater device 104 and the second repeater device 106). In thisembodiment, the second network node 110 (i.e. node B) may be configuredto utilize two different beams for receiving signals from the firstrepeater device 104 and the second repeater device 106. The secondnetwork node 110 (i.e. node B) may be further configured to a) use astrongest signal received (e.g. the first beam of RF signal carrying thefirst data stream 112A) and discard the second received copy (copy ofdata stream S1) that has comparatively less strength; b) use maximal orequalized combining of two received copies through differentcommunication paths and different repeater devices for improvedeffective signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR).

In a second implementation, spatial diversity may be achieved with acommon beam. In this case, the first network node 108 (i.e. the node A)may be configured to transport data streams S1 and S2 (same data) to thefirst repeater device 104 and the second repeater device 106 (i.e.repeaters #1 and #2) , using a common single beam of RF signal. Forexample, the first network node 108 (i.e. the node A) may be configuredto utilize a single wide beam for transporting same data streams tofirst repeater device 104 and the second repeater device 106. In thiscase, a single beam generated by the first network node 108 (i.e. thenode A) may be sufficient to transport same stream through bothrepeaters #1 and #2 (i.e. the first repeater device 104 and the secondrepeater device 106) to achieve the spatial diversity.

In a third implementation, spatial multiplexing may be executed withnon-overlapping beams. In this case, the first data stream 112A (S1) maybe different from the second data stream 112B (S2). In other words, thedata streams 1 and 2 (S1 and S2) may be independent streams containingindependent information bits. In this case, the beams (i.e. the firstbeam and the second beam of RF signals) used at the first network node108 (i.e. the node A) to transmit these streams may be non-overlapping.Non-overlapping is defined in this context as follows: the cross-leakageor cross-interference between the two beams would be better than therequired SNR for recovering these streams at the second network node 110(i.e. node B). Similarly, the beams the second network node 110 (i.e.node B) for receiving these two streams would be non-overlapping. As aresult, the final streams recovered at the second network node 110 (i.e.node B) may have cross-leakage between data streams S1 and S2 that isbetter than SNR required for decoding data streams S1 and S2. As aresults, no special processing or MIMO coding may be required to resolveand recover streams S1 and S2.

In a fourth implementation, spatial multiplexing may be achieved withinterference pre-compensation at transmitter (i.e. the first networknode 108, the node A). In this implementation, the first data stream112A (S1) may be different from the second data stream 112B (S2), i.e.,data streams S1 and S2 may be formed to contain independent data.However, given an existence of effective cross channel leakage (in theform of gain/phase) between the first network node 108 (i.e. node A) andthe second network node 110 (i.e. node B) (through repeaters #1 and #2), a pre-compensation processing is applied at first network node 108(i.e. node A) on data streams S1 and S2, before they are fed into thetwo beams (i.e. the first beam and the second beam). Thispre-compensation may be designed to compensate for the smallcross-leakage between the streams as they travel through two repeaterpaths of the repeater system 102. For example, the data streams S1 andS2, may be passed through a 2×2 matrix operation to generate S1′ andS2′, such that the 2×2 matrix operation, cancels for the 2×2 crossleakage matrix between the streams S1 and S2 (such as cross leakage dueto overlap between the beams, i.e., the first beam of RF signal and thesecond beam of RF signal).

In a fifth implementation, spatial multiplexing may be achieved withinterference compensation at a receiver (i.e. the second network node110, the node B). In this implementation too, the first data stream 112A(S1) may be different from the second data stream 112B (S2), i.e., datastreams S1 and S2 may be formed to contain independent data. However,given an existence of effective cross channel leakage (in the form ofgain/phase) between first network node 108 (i.e. node A) and secondnetwork node 110 (i.e. node B) (through repeaters #1 and #2) , apost-compensation processing (e.g. interference cancellation) may beapplied at second network node 110 (i.e. node B) on received streams(e.g. R1 corresponding to S1, and R2 corresponding to S2), before theyare demodulated to recover original data streams S1 and S2. Thispost-compensation at the second network node 110 (i.e. node B), may beconfigured to compensate for a small cross-leakage between the datastreams S1 and S2 as they travel through two repeater paths. Forexample, the received streams R1 and R2, may be passed through a 2×2matrix operation to generate S1′ and S2′, such that this 2×2 matrixoperation, cancels for the 2×2 cross leakage matrix between the streamsR1 and R2 (such as cross leakage due to overlap between the beams).

In a sixth implementation, MIMO processing may be executed, for example,at the first network node 108. In this implementation, the streams S1and S2 (i.e. the the first data stream 112A and the second data stream112B) transmitted by first network node 108 (i.e. node A) (towards thefirst repeater device 104 and the second repeater device 106) may beoutcome of two original data streams (e.g. S1 _0 and S2 _0) after theMIMO processing is applied on them. In other words, the original datastreams S1 _0 and S2 _0 may undergo a MIMO processing operation. Onesuch example for MIMO processing is processing of [S1 _0 S2 _0] byunitary matrix U, where U is result of singular-value decomposition ofchannel matrix H=U×L×V′, where H is the propagation channel that isdiagonalized by unitary matrices U and V, where L is a diagonal matrixcomposed of channel singular values or Eigen-values. The outcome of thisprocessing, i.e., [S1 S2 ], may then be transmitted over-the-air. Thismode of operation is selected when the off-diagonal elements in channelmatrix H are comparable to the diagonal elements, and the MIMOprocessing provides MIMO capacity gain.

It is to be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art thatwith no loss of generality, other known MIMO techniques and computationsmay be applied on streams [S1 _0 S2 _0] to generate [S1 S2 ] streamstransmitted over-the-air. In an example, a space-time coded streams S1and S2 may be used for MIMO processing, in which original streams [S1 _0S2 _0] undergo space-time coding procedure to generate streams [S1 S2 ]to be transmitted over-the-air. A space-time coding mode may be utilizedto provide robustness and diversity protection, without significantpenalty in channel capacity. Examples of the coding used in this casemay include, but is not limited to an orthogonal space time blocks codes(O-STBC) and Alamouti coding. Moreover, with no loss of generality, theaforementioned implementations, may be applied to various modulations.For example, the aforementioned implementations may be applied tosingle-carrier (SC) modulations as well as multi-carrier modulations. Inthe case of multi-carrier modulations (such as OFDM, OFDMA, andSC-FDMA), the above MIMO processing and operations may be appliedequally to all subcarriers, or be applied differently per sub-carrier(e.g., different matrix values per subcarrier).

For the sake of brevity, the aforementioned implementations (andembodiments) are described with two repeaters in the repeater system 102and two data streams S1 and S2. However, it is to be understood by aperson of ordinary skill in the art that such implementations andembodiments can be extended to cover cases of N beams/streamstransmitted out of first network node 108 (i.e. node A), and N repeatersutilized in the network environment, and second network node 110 (i.e.node B), using P beams for receiving signals from the N repeaters.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the repeater system 102 maybe configured to use a plurality of phased antenna arrays, which may beconfigured to receive signals from a plurality of source devices(instead of one network node) and re-transmit the received signals to aplurality of destination devices. In a first example, the first repeaterdevice 104 may use a single antenna array, which may be configured toreceive and transmit multiples beams and/or streams through the sameantenna array. In this case, the first repeater device 104 may receivestreams/beams from a plurality of source devices, concurrently, whilere-transmitting those streams through a plurality of beams to theplurality of destination devices. In some embodiments, the firstrepeater device 104 may be configured to receive data streams from asingle source node (i.e. the first network node 108), whilere-transmitting signals to multiple destination devices. In anotherembodiment, the first repeater device 104 may be configured to receivedata streams S1 and S2 from multiple source devices (where these streamsmay contain the same information bits, or independent information bits)and re-transmit these streams to a single destination device, such asthe second network node 110.

In another example, the first repeater device 104 may use differentphysical antenna arrays in order to receive and transmit beams/streams.Some antenna arrays may be used for transmitting data streams/beams,while other antenna arrays may be utilized for receiving datastreams/beams. The first repeater device 104 may be configured tooperate in: (1) time-division duplex mode (TDD), where the firstrepeater device 104 is configured to relay or repeat signals from thefirst network node 108 (i.e. node A) to second network node 110 (i.e.node B) in T1 time interval, and the first repeater device 104 isreconfigured to relay or repeat signals from second network node 110(i.e. node B) to first network node 108 (i.e. node A) in T2 timeinterval. The first repeater device 104 may be further configured tooperate in: 2) frequency-division duplex mode (FDD), wherebi-directional links may be concurrently operating in differentfrequency channels. The first repeater device 104 may be furtherconfigured to operate in: 3) full-duplex mode (FD), where a repeaterdevice (such as the first repeater device 104) may be configured torelay or repeat the signals between the first network node 108 (i.e.node A) and the second network node 110 (i.e. node B), concurrently, inboth direction, irrespective of presence of signals or not.

In another example, for each link direction, the first repeater device104 may include the first receiving antenna array 104A that isconfigured to receive the first beam of RF signal from the first networknode 108 (i.e. node A), and the first transmitting array 104B that isconfigured to transmit the first beam of RF signal carrying first datastream 112A to the second network node 110 (i.e. node B). In this case,the RF signal exchange between these two antenna arrays may be: 1) inoriginal RF frequency, where no frequency shift is applied to thesignal; 2) in some intermediate frequency (IF) where the signal isshifted down to IF frequency before being routed from first receivingantenna array 104A to the first transmitting antenna array 104B; 3) inbaseband I/O domain, where the signal is down-converted (shifted infrequency) to zero frequency before being routed from first receivingantenna array 104A to the first transmitting antenna array 104B; or 4)in digital domain, where the received signal is shifted down infrequency domain and digitized before being routed to the firsttransmitting antenna array 104B.

In some embodiments, each repeater device (such as the first repeaterdevice 104 and/or the second repeater device 106) may not perform anydecoding of received stream before re-transmitting it. This mode may beutilized when very low latency link is desired or required. In thisembodiment, the received signal passing through a receiving antennaarray (such as first receiving antenna array 104A) may be shifted infrequency, amplified, filtered for out of channel noise, and transmittedat RF frequency through a transmitting antenna array (such as the firsttransmitting antenna array 104B) configured to a certain beam pattern.In some embodiments, each repeater device (such as the first repeaterdevice 104 and/or the second repeater device 106) may digitize thereceived stream for some low-latency processing in the digital domain(such as channel selection filtering, IQ correction), withoutdemodulating the data stream. In some embodiments, where latency ofdemodulation and re-modulation of data stream can be afforded (i.e.acceptable), and/or the quality (i.e. the SNR) of the received stream isnot sufficient for re-transmission as is, the repeater device (such asthe first repeater device 104 and/or the second repeater device 106) mayde-modulate, de-code, re-encode, re-modulate the stream beforere-transmitting the stream through a transmitting antenna array (such asthe first transmitting antenna array 104B).

In some embodiments, the receiving antenna array (e.g. the firstreceiving antenna array 104A or the second receiving antenna array 106A)and transmitting antenna array (e.g. the first transmitting antennaarray 104B or the second transmitting antenna array 106B) inside arepeater device (e.g. the first repeater device 104 or the secondrepeater device 106) operate at the same carrier RF frequency. In thiscase, no frequency shift is applied/observed between the incoming signalcompared to the outgoing signal. In some embodiments, the carrier RFfrequency of incoming and outgoing signals may be different. Thisembodiment may be utilized, for 1) better utilization of spectralchannels, 2) better overall frequency planning in network, 3) betterisolation between the two antenna arrays inside the repeater deviceoperating at same time/channel. In some embodiments, the antenna arraysin a repeater device of the repeater system 102 may deploy classic phaseshifters per antenna element to create configurable or programmableantenna radiation patterns. In some embodiments, the antenna arrays maybe implemented by other means of creating programmable phase shifts inRF signals per group of radiating elements of a given antenna array. Insome embodiments, digital domain computations (e.g. complex multipliers(certain amplitude and certain phase of a signal) or true delay lineimplementations per radiating element may be deployed to producedirectional and/or configurable radiation patterns.

In accordance with an embodiment, the repeater system 102 may beconfigured to perform beam pattern configuration. Each antenna array(either transmitting or receiving) within a repeater device (e.g. thefirst repeater device 104 or the second repeater device 106) may befurther configured to select and form a radiation pattern from aplurality of possible beam patterns. In the case of concurrentmulti-beam mode of operation, each beam can be configured independently.Several approach may be used for selecting the beam configurations forvarious links in/out of each repeater device of the repeater system 102.In a first approach, a localized beam configuration selection may beemployed, in which a repeater device (e.g. the first repeater device 104or the second repeater device 106) may implement operationsself-contained within the repeater device to determine what beamconfigurations to use. For example, the first repeater device 104 may beconfigured to measure SNR or received signal power to select the bestbeam configuration when receiving a signal from the source device, suchas the first network node 108.

In a second approach, link level beam configuration selection may beemployed, in which a repeater device (e.g. the first repeater device 104or the second repeater device 106) may be configured to use the linkbetween the repeater device and one of the first network node 108 (i.e.node A) or the second network node 110 (i.e. node B) to train its beamselection for its receiving or transmitting array. For example, toselect a beam configuration for the first transmitting phase array 104Bof the first repeater device 104 towards the first network node 108(i.e. node A), the first repeater device 104 may be configured to useone or more link metric measurements (such as SNR or received signalpower) by the first network node 108 (i.e. node A) to configure the beamof the first transmitting antenna array 104B of the first repeaterdevice 104. In an implementation, the communication and exchange ofmeasurements between each repeater device (e.g. the first repeaterdevice 104 or the second repeater device 106) of the repeater system 102and the first network node 108 (i.e. node A) may be done using anout-of-band or an auxiliary link. For example, a Wi-Fi link or aLong-term Evolution (LTE) link may be used for coordination and exchangeof messages between each repeater device and the first network node 108(i.e. node A). In another implementation, the exchange of measurementsand training of beam selection process may be done using in-bandcommunication (i.e. the same target link that is used for data transportbetween each repeater device of the repeater system 102 and the firstnetwork node 108 (i.e. node A), is also used for training and selectionof beam configuration).

In a third approach, a network level beam configuration selection may beperformed, in which a master network node (e.g. a base station in thecase of a cellular network, or a server in the cloud network) may beconfigured to acquire various information elements from the variousnetwork nodes in the network, and use all such data to select the beamconfigurations for different nodes and repeater devices of the repeatersystem 102 in the network. For example, the first network node 108 (i.e.node A) may be configured to acquire measurement data from the firstrepeater device 104, the second repeater device 106, and the secondnetwork node 110 (i.e. node B), and other possible destination nodes inthe network. Thereafter, the first network node 108 (i.e. node A) may beconfigured to process all acquired measurements jointly, and instructthe network nodes and the repeaters devices of the repeater system 102in the network to use the selected beam configurations, respectively.

FIG. 2 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system with gain and phase control, in accordance with anotherexemplary embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 2 is explained inconjunction with elements from FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 2, thereis shown the communication system 100 that may include the repeatersystem 102. In this embodiment, each of the first repeater device 104and the second repeater device 106 of the repeater system 102 may beconfigured to execute a gain and phase control operation 202.

The first repeater device 104 may be configured to receive the firstbeam of radio frequency (RF) signal from the first network node 108(i.e. the node A) via a first communication path. The first beam of RFsignal may carry a first data stream 112A (also represented as S1)transmitted by the first network node 108. The second repeater device106 may be configured to receive a second beam of RF signal from thefirst network node 108 via a second communication path. The second beamof RF signal may carry a second data stream 112B (also represented asS2) transmitted by the first network node 108 (same Node A). The firstrepeater device 104 may be a master repeater device and may be furtherconfigured to synchronize and control the second repeater device 106 toconcurrently provide the first beam of RF signal and the second beam ofRF signal to the second network node 110 (i.e. the node B). In otherwords, the first data stream 112A and the second data stream 112B (S1and S2) may be concurrently communicated to the second network node 110by the first network node 108 via the two repeater devices of therepeater system 102 to achieve distributed MIMO for enhancedcommunication reliability.

The first repeater device 104 (e.g. set as the master repeater device)may be further configured to control the second repeater device 106 toacquire a plurality of measurements associated with each of the firstnetwork node 108, the second network node 110, the first repeater device104, and the second repeater device 106. The plurality of measurementsmay be exchanged between the network nodes (e.g. the first network node108 and the second network node 110) and repeater devices of therepeater system 102 so that one master repeater device, such as thefirst repeater device 104 (with access to all such measurements) mayprocess and select certain values (e.g. optimal values and communicateback those selected values to respective repeaters, such as the secondrepeater device 106). The plurality of measurements comprises asignal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first beam of RF signal and thesecond beam of RF signal at the second network node 110 (i.e. node B), achannel impulse response corresponding to the first beam of RF signaland the second beam of RF signal at the second network node 110, across-leakage between the first beam of RF signal and the second beam ofRF signal measured at the second network node 110, an absolute signalpower corresponding to the first beam of RF signal and the second beamof RF signal at the second network node 110, required SNR valuesdepending on a modulation-coding-scheme used for the first beam of RFsignal and the second beam of RF signal, a first SNR value for the firstbeam of RF signal received at the first repeater device 104, and asecond SNR value for second beam of RF signal received at the secondrepeater device 106. In an implementation, the plurality of measurementsmay be acquired based on in-band communication between the firstrepeater device 104 and each of the first network node 108, the secondnetwork node 110, and the second repeater device 106. In anotherimplementation, the plurality of measurements may be acquired based onout-of-band communication between the first repeater device 104 and eachof the first network node 108, the second network node 110, and thesecond repeater device 106.

The first repeater device 104 may be further configured to control thesecond repeater device 106 to select a plurality of signal parameters atthe first repeater device 104 and the second repeater device 106 for thefirst beam of RF signal and the second beam of RF signal respectively,based on the acquired plurality of measurements such that across-leakage of the first beam of RF signal on the second beam of RFsignal and vice-versa at the second network node 110 is reduced.Moreover, the first repeater device 104 may be further configured tocontrol the second repeater device 106 to adjust a gain and a phase ofthe first beam of RF signal and the second beam of RF signal based onthe selected plurality of signal parameters such that a concurrentrecovery of data from the first beam of RF signal and the second beam ofRF signal is achieved at the second network node 110. As shown in FIG.2, the gain and phase control operation 202 may be executed at eachrepeater device (such as the first repeater device 104 and the secondrepeater device 106) of the repeater system 102.

In accordance with an embodiment, in the gain and phase controloperation 202, the gain and phase of a signal passing through therepeater #1 and repeater #2 (i.e. the first repeater device 104 and thesecond repeater device 106) may be adjusted (or modified) throughexpressions a₁*exp (j*phi₁) and a₂*exp a₁*exp (j*phi₂), where a₁corresponds to first amplitude value for the first beam, “exp”corresponds to exponential, and phi, corresponds to phase of the signalpassing through the first repeater device 104. Similarly, a₂ correspondsto second amplitude value for the second beam, exp corresponds toexponential, and phi₂ corresponds to phase of the signal (second beam)passing through the second repeater device 106. These configurations andvalues (or coefficients) correspond to the plurality of signalparameters, which are selected to optimize the overall performance atthe second network node 110 (i.e. node B), where data (i.e. both datastreams S1 and S2) is recovered concurrently. Each signal parameter(i.e. selected values) may control and adjust the overall gain and phaseof the signal being retransmitted by each repeater device (i.e. thefirst repeater device 104 and the second repeater device 106). In someembodiments, the values of a₁ and a₂ are set such that cross leakage ofdata stream S1 on S2 (and vice versa) at second network node 110 (i.e.node B) (specifically, a receiving array) are mutually minimized. Forexample, assume, the absolute power of received signal at second networknode 110 (i.e. node B) corresponding to steam S1 through the first firstrepeater device 104 (i.e. repeater #1) is 10 dB higher than thecorresponding signal power level of data stream S2, coming through thesecond repeater device 106 (i.e. the repeater #2) . In this case, thehigher power level of data stream S1 (i.e. the first beam of RF signalcarrying the first data stream 112A, S1) may negatively impact decodingof stream S2 (due to residual leakage). In this case, equalizing ofpower levels of signals corresponding to data streams S1 and S2 atsecond network node 110 (i.e. node B), may be utilized by settings a₁and a₂ values accordingly. In some embodiments, the relative values ofthese gain stages may be selected depending on the SNR requirements ofthe data streams S1 and S2. For example, if stream S1 is using 16quadrature amplitude modulation (16 QAM), while stream S2 is usingQuadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), the data stream S2 may requirelower SNR than data stream S1 for successful recovery of the originalstreams. In this case, the values of a₁ and a₂ are set such that thepower of final received signal corresponding to data stream S1 is higherthan that of data stream S2 (e.g., the final received power may beconfigured to be 6 dB higher for received signals corresponding to datastream S1 compared to data stream S2).

In accordance with an embodiment, a state machine (and routines) forselecting the values for a₁*exp (j*phi₁) and a₂*exp (j*phi₂), may residewithin repeaters #1 and #2 (i.e. the first repeater device 104 and thesecond repeater device 106), or may reside in one of first network node108 and the second network node 110 (i.e. nodes A or B), or may residein a remote server (e.g. a cloud-based server). In an example, regardingmeasurements used for deciding optimal values of a₁*exp (j*phi₁) anda₂*exp (j*phi₂), in some embodiments, such measurements may include:received SNR of the streams S1 and S2 at second network node 110 (i.e.node B), channel impulse response corresponding to the data streams S1and S2 received at second network node 110 (i.e. node B), cross leakagebetween the data stream S1 and S2 measured at second network node 110(i.e. node B), absolute signal power (received signal strengthindicator, or RSSI) corresponding to the data streams S1 and S2 atsecond network node 110 (i.e. node B), required SNR values given themodulation-coding-scheme (MCS) used for the data streams S1 and S2,receiver SNR of the data stream S1 measured at repeater #1 (i.e. thefirst repeater device 104), receiver SNR of the data stream S2 measuredat repeater #2 (i.e. the second repeater device 106).

In accordance with an embodiment, the first beam of RF signal carrying afirst data stream is received from the first network node 108 in a firstpolarization type and re-transmitted to the second network node 110 in asecond polarization type that is different than the first polarizationtype. The second beam of RF signal carrying a second data stream isreceived from the first network node 108 in a first polarization typeand re-transmitted to the second network node 110 in a secondpolarization type that is different than the first polarization type.The first polarization type and second polarization type may refer to ahorizontal polarization and a vertical polarization.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first repeater device 104 may befurther configured to establish an additional link with the secondrepeater device 106 by which a first data stream carried by the firstbeam of RF signal may be provided to the second network node 110 throughthe first repeater device 104 as well as the second repeater device 106,and a second data stream carried by the second beam of RF signal may befurther provided to the second network node 110 concurrent to the firstdata stream via the second repeater device 106. An example of theestablishment of the additional link is further described in detail, forexample, in FIG. 7.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first repeater device 104 and thesecond repeater device 106 may be mounted on a vehicle, where the firstrepeater device 104 (in synchronization to the second repeater device106), may be further configured to select one or more beamformingschemes to illuminate space inside the vehicle such that both an uplinkand a downlink communication is established between the first networknode 108 and a user device corresponding to the second network nodepresent within the vehicle. At least one of the first repeater device104 and the second repeater device 106 may be further configured to beactivated or deactivated based on a visibility status to the firstnetwork node 108 when the vehicle in in motion. The implementation ofthe repeater system 102 in a vehicle and the activation or deactivationbased on the visibility status is further described in detail, forexample, in FIG. 8.

FIG. 3 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 3 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1 and 2. With reference to FIG. 3, there is shown a communication system300 that may include a repeater system 302. In FIG. 3, the communicationsystem 300 that includes the repeater system 302 represents adistributed multi-array MIMO over different repeater devices of therepeater system 302. There is further shown repeater devices 304 and 306of the repeater system 302, a source network node 308, (i.e. node A),and a destination network node 310 (i.e. node B). The repeater system302 corresponds to the repeater system 102.

In this embodiment, a plurality of nodes (e.g., the source network node308, (i.e. node A), the destination network node 310 (i.e. node B), therepeater device 304 (i.e. repeater #1), and the repeater device 306(i.e. repeater #2) ) may deploy multiple physical antenna arrays toexpand on their MIMO processing capabilities, as shown in FIG. 3. Inthis case, the physically separated (i.e. distinguished) antenna arraysmay be deployed for transmitting multiple streams. For example, as shownin FIG. 3, each antenna array may be configured to transmit two datastreams through two different beams, and a total four streams aretransmitted by the source network node 308, (i.e. node A).

In accordance with an embodiment, one or more implementations may bejointly or separately supported by the communication system 300. Forexample, in a first implementation, all beams and data streams (e.g.streams S11, S12, S21, and S22 carried by different beams of RF signals)shown in the FIG. 3, may be transported over the same antenna radiationpolarity (e.g. all transmitted over vertical polarization, or alltransmitted over horizontal, or all transmitted over circularpolarization). In a second implementation, a subset of beams (andstreams) shown in the FIG. 3, may be transported over H polarization,while another subset may be transported over V polarization.Additionally, in some embodiments, the subset of beams in a certainpolarization may differ between nodes (i.e. the source network node 308and the destination network node 310) and the repeater devices 304 and306. This enables additional configurability, where a stream may betransmitted on a certain polarization type, while being re-transmittedby a repeater device (e.g. the repeater devices 304 or the repeaterdevice 306) of the repeater system 302 on a different polarization type.

In a third implementation, additional cross-coefficients (i.e. theplurality of signal parameters) may be implemented and utilized infollowing approaches. In a first approach (a), such plurality of signalparameters (e.g. complex value parameters of gain/phase) may use theexpression: a₁₁*exp (j*phi₁₁). Each repeater device (such as repeaterdevices 304 and 306) may include different values for these signalparameters. In some embodiments, 8 total complex coefficients (4coefficients per repeater device in the repeater system 302, in thisexample), may be derived and selected to: 1) optimize MIMO capacity ofthe MIMO channel from [S11 S12; S21 S22] to [R11 R12; R21 R22]. In thisembodiment, these complex coefficients to maximize the sum ofeigenvalues of the 4×4 MIMO channel matrix. 2) Optimize effective SNRfor some or all of streams S11_0, S12_0, S21_0, S22_0. In this case, thedestination network node 310 (i.e. target) may maximize link robustnessand SNR margin.

In a second approach (b), relative gain adjustment between streams maybe achieved based on the plurality of signal parameters (i.e. additionalcross-coefficients or values) selected at each repeater device (such asrepeater devices 304 and 306). The plurality of signal parameters (i.e.the coefficients) may be utilized as joint gain control across thesource network node 308, the destination network node 310 (node A andnode B) or repeater devices 304 and 306 and across all streams in orderto provide a balance between relative power levels of streams R11, R12,R21, R22 at the destination network node 310 (i.e. node B), and toensure that no stream degrades other streams due to high power level andinherent cross-leakage.

In a third approach (c), selection and optimization of beam patternsacross the network nodes (the source network node 308 and thedestination network node 310) and the repeater devices 304 and 306 andthe plurality of signal parameters (i.e. complex coefficients) insideeach of the repeater devices 304 and 306 may be done jointly. Thisoptimization may be performed in one of network nodes (e.g., the sourcenetwork node 308 (i.e. node A) as a master node or a central node), ormay be performed in a remote server that has access to the plurality ofmeasurements from various network nodes and the repeater devices 304 and306. Such optimization of beams and signal parameters (i.e.coefficients) may be based on, (1) optimizing sum-capacity of MIMOchannel over the data streams S11, S12, S21, S22, where the aggregatecapacity delivered to the destination network node 310 (i.e. node B) ismaximized. Such optimization of beams and signal parameters (i.e.coefficients) may be further based on, (2) optimizing effective SNR on asubset of streams (this approach is used when link reliability (ormargin) may be the primary figure (or parameter) of merit. For example,the beams and the plurality of signal parameters (i.e. the complexcoefficients) may be selected to maximize SNR on the data streams S11and S12 only.

In a fourth implementation, various beams (carrying correspondingstreams) deployed at the network nodes (the source network node 308 andthe destination network node 310) and the repeater devices 304 and 306,may be operating all over a single carrier frequency. In a fifthimplementation, various beams (carrying corresponding streams) deployedat the network nodes (the source network node 308 and the destinationnetwork node 310) and the repeater devices 304 and 306, may be operatingselectively over different carrier frequencies. This embodiment may beutilized when a plurality of streams may be transported over differentchannels (or carriers) in a carrier-aggregation mode of operation.

In a sixth implementation, the plurality of signal parameters (i.e. thecomplex coefficients or values) inside the repeater devices 304 and 306(i.e. the repeater 1 or 2) may deploy fixed values to implement anintermediary MIMO processing on the streams passing through a repeaterdevice (e.g. the repeater device 304 or repeater device 306). Forexample, these signal parameters (i.e. complex value) may form a 2×2matrix structure of [+1 +1; +1 −1] that may effectively apply a unitaryMIMO processing on the data streams. In certain scenarios, thedestination repeater device 306 (node B) may be further configured toreceive data streams/beams on two different polarizations, where the 2×2unitary matrix operation may effectively distribute each receivedpolarization onto both outgoing polarizations.

In a seventh implementation, the line-of-sight MIMO (LOS-MIMO)processing and optimization may be implemented for the links betweensource network node 308 (i.e. node A) and destination network node 310(i.e. node B) through repeaters #1 and #2 (i.e. the repeater devices 304and 306). In this mode of configuration, although all links betweendifferent nodes are line-of-sight, the phase differences betweendifferent paths and antenna arrays, provide a degree of separation thatmay be utilized for exploiting the channel as a MIMO channel. In thismode of operation, the plurality of signal parameters (i.e. the complexcoefficients) inside repeaters #1 and #2 (i.e. the repeater devices 304and 306) may be used for optimizing the MIMO capacity of the overallequivalent channel from source network node 308 (i.e. node A) todestination network node 310 (i.e. node B).

FIG. 4 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 4 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1, 2, and 3. With reference to FIG. 4, there is shown a communicationsystem 400 that may include a repeater system 402 that includes anadditional repeater device, such as a repeater device 404. In FIG. 4,the communication system 400 that includes the repeater system 402represents a distributed multi-array MIMO over multi-hop repeaterdevices of the repeater system 402. There is shown the repeater devices304, 306, and 404 of the repeater system 402, the source network node308 (i.e. node A), and the destination network node 310 (i.e. node B) ofFIG. 3.

In this embodiment, the source network node 308 (i.e. node A) and thedestination network node 310 (i.e. node B) may communicate through tworepeater paths, where one repeater path is a cascade of two individualrepeaters (i.e. the repeater devices 304 and 404, which are alsoreferred to as repeater #1_1 and repeater #1_2 respectively). In themulti-hop path, the links between “the source network node 308 (i.e.node A) and repeater #1_1 (i.e. the repeater device 304)” and the“repeater #1_2 (i.e. the repeater device 404) and the destinationnetwork node 310 (i.e. the node B)” may operate at access carrierfrequency (e.g., 28 GHz band), whereas the link between “repeater #1_1(i.e. the repeater device 304) and repeater #1_2 (i.e. the repeaterdevice 404)” may operate at a different carrier frequency (e.g., 60 GHz,or, in another example, some backhaul carrier frequency or out-of-bandcarrier frequency).

FIG. 5 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 5 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1, 2, 3, and 4. With reference to FIG. 5, there is shown a communicationsystem 500 that may include a repeater system 502 that includes a singlerepeater device, such as a repeater device 504. In FIG. 5, thecommunication system 500 that includes the repeater system 502represents a distributed MIMO over one or more repeater device, such asthe repeater device 504, in a multi-source case. There is further shownthe source network node 308 (i.e. node A), another source network node506 (i.e. node A′), and the destination network node 310 (i.e. node B).

In this embodiment, each of the plurality of source network nodes 308and 506 (node A and A′) may be configured to concurrently communicatewith the destination network node 310 (i.e. node B) through a network ofrepeater devices (only a single-repeater case, such as the repeaterdevice 504, is shown here for sake of brevity). In some embodiments, thesource network node 308 (i.e. node A) may be configured to communicatetwo data streams intended for an end-user device, such as thedestination network node 310 (i.e. node B), while the source networknode 308 (i.e. node A) may have data streams intended for other devicesin the network (those devices not shown in the FIG. 5). For example, thedata streams S11 and S12 may be intended for the destination networknode 310 (i.e. node B), while data streams S21 and S22 may be intendedfor other network nodes in the environment. Similarly, the data streamsS′21 and S′22 may be communicated by the other source network node 506(i.e. node A′) for the destination network node 310 (i.e. node B).

In accordance with an embodiment, the source network node 308 (i.e. nodeA) may be configured to utilize different coding methods for generatingdata streams S11 and S12. Such coding schemes for generating the datastreams S11 and S22 may include, but is not limited to, spatialmultiplexing, spatial diversity, or MIMO coding, or variations thereof(described for example, in FIG. 1). In some embodiments, the repeaterdevice 504 (i.e. the repeater #1) may implement at least oneconfiguration: 1) a single array, single beam, 2) single array,multi-beam, 3) multi beams over different polarizations, 4) twophysically separated arrays, each array with single/multiple beams.

In accordance with an embodiment, the data streams S11 and S12 may betransported by the source network node 308 (i.e. node A) and datastreams S′21 and S′22 may be transported by node A′, all towards sameend user, such as the destination network node 310 (i.e. node B). Insuch a case, these streams may be transported over different frequencychannels/bands, e.g., the source network node 308 (i.e. node A) maystream over one channel and the other source network node 506 (i.e. nodeA′) may stream over a different channel. Further, in such a case, allstreams may be transported over same channel, maximizing frequencyre-use. In this case, various data streams may be distinguished throughspatial separation or MIMO processing. Moreover, the data streams (ororiginal information bits) communicated by the source network nodes 308and 506 (node A and A′) may be correlated or may have dependency witheach other. In this mode, the redundancy or correlation between thestreams are intended or designed to provide better diversity,robustness, reliability, or capacity, by exploiting the richer andlarger MIMO channel matrix between the network nodes, such as the sourcenetwork nodes 308 and 506 (node A and A′).

In accordance with an embodiment, the coordination between data streamscommunicated from the source network nodes 308 and 506 (node A and A′)may be in: 1) in frequency domain, as a carrier aggregation method ofoperation; 2) in time domain, by the source network nodes 308 and 506(node A and A′) coordinating the time slots used by each source networknode, 3) spatial domain, by relaying on spatial separation between thepaths originated from the source network node 308 (i.e. node A) versusthe source network node 506 (i.e. node A′).

FIG. 6 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 6 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1 to 5. With reference to FIG. 6, there is shown a communication system600 that may include a repeater system 602 with a repeater device 604.In FIG. 6, the communication system 600 that includes the repeatersystem 602 represents a distributed MIMO over one or more repeaterdevices, such as the repeater device 604, in a multi-destination case.There is further shown the source network node 308 (i.e. node A), thedestination network node 310 (i.e. node B), and an additionaldestination, such as a destination network node 606 (i.e. node B′).

In this embodiment, the source network node 308 (i.e. node A) and therepeater device 604 may be utilized and configured for transporting datato multiple destination nodes, such as the destination network nodes 310and 606 (node B and B′). Various implementations and configurationsdescribed, for example, in FIGS. 1 to 5, may also be applied to thenetwork topology of FIG. 6. In an implementation, data streams intendedfor end users, such as the destination network nodes 310 and 606 (node Band B′) may be separated in frequency domain (e.g. allocation ofdifferent subcarriers to different destination network nodes 310 and 606in an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system).

In some embodiments, the repeater device 604 (i.e. the repeater #1) maybe further configured to communicate, by use of a transmitting antennaarray, wide beams to transmit signals towards the destination networknodes 310 and 606 (nodes B and B′). In this case, the wide beamradiation pattern at output of the repeater device 604 may concurrentlyprovide signal coverage at both the destination network nodes 310 and606. In this case, a single radiation beam may be sufficient to covermultiple destination nodes (nodes B and B′). In accordance with anembodiment, the plurality of signal parameters (i.e. the complexcoefficients) may be selected in the repeater device 604 to adjust arelative power of signals being transported towards the destinationnetwork nodes 310 and 606 (nodes B and B′). For example, if the twonodes B and B′ (i.e. the destination network nodes 310 and 606) areassigned different polarizations by the source network node 308 (nodeA), the relative powers of corresponding signals at output of therepeater device 604 may be adjusted (e.g., equalized) to minimize or atleast reduce, for example, a worst case cross leakage between thesignals intended for different destination nodes (e.g. the destinationnetwork nodes 310 and 606).

FIG. 7 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 7 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1 to 6. With reference to FIG. 7, there is shown a communication system700 that may include a repeater system 702 that include repeater devices704 and 706. There is further shown the source network node 308 (i.e.node A) and the destination network node 310 (i.e. node B). In FIG. 7,the communication system 700 represents a distributed MIMO withmulti-repeater deployment with inter-repeater routing.

In this embodiment, the repeater devices 704 and 706 (i.e. the tworepeaters #1 and #2) may be deployed to facilitate the communicationbetween the source network node 308 (i.e. node A) and the destinationnetwork node 310 (i.e. node B). A subset of following links may beestablished and utilized, in accordance with previous embodiments andimplementations, described, for example, in FIGS. 1 to 6: 1) the sourcenetwork node 308 (i.e. node A) to the repeater device 704 (Repeater #1);2) the repeater device 704 (Repeater #1) to the destination network node310 (i.e. node B); 3) the source network node 308 (i.e. node A) to therepeater device 706 (repeater #2) ; and 4) the repeater device 706(repeater #2) to the destination network node 310 (i.e. node B). In someembodiments, an additional link 708 may be established between therepeater devices 704 and 706 (i.e. the two repeaters #1 and #2) , asshown. For example, the repeater device 704 (Repeater #1) may use one ofits receiving antenna arrays to receive beam of RF signal carrying astream from the source network node 308 (i.e. node A), and use one ofits transmitting antenna arrays (and beam) to transport that signal(concurrently) towards a receiving antenna array/beam at the repeaterdevice 706 (Repeater #2) . Consequently, the repeater device 706(Repeater #2) is configured to direct (i.e. re-transmit) the receivedsignal to end user, such as the destination network node 310 (i.e. nodeB). The additional link 708 between the repeater devices 704 and 706 maycreate an additional dimension in the MIMO channel between the sourcenetwork node 308 (i.e. node A) and the destination network node 310(i.e. node B). The additional link 708 (with configurable gain/phasemultipliers, such as plurality of signal parameters) may be used toexecute gain and phase control operation 202 to enhance the MIMOchannel's degrees of freedom, eigenvalue rank, MIMO capacity, effectiveSNR, and diversity rank, among other parameters.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an exemplary scenario of implementation ofa repeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 8 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1 to 7. With reference to FIG. 8, there is shown an exemplary scenario800 that includes a vehicle 802, the first repeater device 104, thesecond repeater device 106, the first network node 108 (node A), and thesecond network node 110 (node B) (of FIGS. 1 and 2). In FIG. 8, variousselection operations for a network of repeater devices is described, forexample, by use of the exemplary scenario 800.

In some deployment scenarios, a plurality of antenna arrays within anetwork of repeaters may be utilized for providing coverage over a samearea. In the exemplary scenario 800, the first repeater device 104 andthe second repeater device 106 may be mounted on the vehicle 802. Thefirst repeater device 104 in synchronization to the second repeaterdevice 106 may be configured to select one or more beamforming schemesto illuminate space inside the vehicle 802 such that both an uplink anda downlink communication is established between the first network node108 and a user device corresponding to the second network node 110 (nodeB) present within the vehicle 802. In other words, multiple repeaterdevices may be installed on the vehicle 802, with the goal of providingcoverage inside the vehicle 802 and to the passengers' devices. In thiscase, multiple repeater devices may be designed to have antenna arraysand beam patterns that can illuminate space inside the vehicle 802.However, given the mobility of the vehicle 802, not all these repeaterdevices installed on the vehicle 802 may consistently have visibility tothe first network node 108 (node A, such as a base station), where arepeater device with a best visibility status may dynamically change.This improves the coverage, reliability, and network capacity. Thus, atleast one of the first repeater device 104 and the second repeaterdevice 106 may be further configured to be activated or deactivatedbased on the visibility status to the first network node 108 when thevehicle 802 in in motion. In this example, the first network node 108(node A) may be a cellular base station and the second network node(Node B) may be an end user equipment or the user device on a cellularnetwork (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, an in-vehicle entertainmentsystem, an augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) device, orheadset, etc.).

In accordance with an embodiment, the first repeater device 104 and thesecond repeater device 106 (Repeaters #1 and #2) may be installed on thevehicle 802 to enhance passengers' connectivity and access to thecellular network. The first repeater device 104 and the second repeaterdevice 106 may utilize a configuration in which a wide beam is used onan antenna array facing inside the vehicle 802 (to/from passengers'equipment, such as the second network node 110). This wide beamillumination towards the interior of the vehicle 802 enables 1)providing robust and reliable coverage for the second network node 110(node B) by reducing sensitivity to beam tracking on the link betweenthe second network node 110 (node B) and the first repeater device 104and the second repeater device 106 (Repeaters #1 and #2) ; and 2)requiring less power consumption and reduces dissipation by the secondnetwork node 110 (node B), as the uplink distance to be supported by thesecond network node 110 (node B) towards next immediate node (i.e., thefirst repeater device 104 and the second repeater device 106) would bein the range of less than a few meters.

In some embodiments, the implementation of the first repeater device 104and the second repeater device 106 (Repeaters #1 and #2) , may be suchthat the antenna arrays provided in each of the first repeater device104 and the second repeater device 106 may be installed (i.e. placed) atdifferent locations, orientations, while connected to each other throughsome wired means (e.g. cables). In such cases, one antenna arrayconnecting to the first network node 108 (node A) may be installed onthe vehicle 802 in a manner facing towards outside, whereas one antennaarray facing the second network node 110 (node B) may be installed suchthat its facing towards inside the vehicle 802.

In accordance with an embodiment, each of the first repeater device 104and the second repeater device 106 may be further configured todetermine a plurality of criteria when the vehicle 802 in in motion. Atleast one of the first repeater device 104 or the second repeater device106 may be activated or deactivated based on the determined plurality ofcriteria when the vehicle 802 in in motion. In some embodiments, arepeater device selection method may be implemented in order to select asubset of the repeater devices on the vehicle 802 that are activated/ON,and to select another subset of repeater devices on the vehicle 802 thatare prevented from creating links to the second network node 110 (nodeB). Such selection method (or operation) may be implemented andoperational on one of repeater devices (e.g. the first repeater device104 or the second repeater device 106) or one of the repeater devicesdesignated as a master repeater device), or even on the first networknode 108 (node A), or the second network node 110 (node B), or a remoteserver. In some embodiments, the selection method (or operation) isimplemented on an electronic control unit (ECU) (e.g. a processorsystem) that is provided in the vehicle 802.

In some embodiments, the selection of an active repeater device from aplurality of repeater devices (such as the first repeater device 104 andthe second repeater device 106) installed on the vehicle 802 may be donein a dynamic manner. For example, as the vehicle's position ororientation with respect to the first network node 108 (node A) changes,the subset of repeater devices (e.g. the first repeater device 104) withcomparatively better signal reception from the first network node 108(node A) may be selected. As a result, an optimal subset of repeaterdevices with best link quality between the selected repeater device andthe first network node (node A) may be updated. The disclosed selectionmethod (i.e. selection operations) may be configured for dynamicselection of active repeaters as the vehicle 802 moves or as theenvironment changes. For example, if the link between the first networknode 108 (node A) and the first repeater device 104 (repeater #1) isblocked by another object, the selection method would then switch theactive repeater that is illuminating inside the vehicle 802 from thefirst repeater device 104 to the second repeater device 106. Variousmeasurement metrics and mechanism (i.e. the plurality of criteria) maybe utilized for identifying and/or deciding which subset of repeaters tokeep active/ON and which subset to keep inactive/OFF. In someembodiments, the circuitry and digital logic within a repeater device(e.g. the first repeater device 104) may measure and quantify the linksquality between corresponding repeater device and the first network node108 (node A). Examples of the plurality of criteria (e.g. the metrics)may include, but are not limited to, received signal strength indicator(RSSI), signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the link between the firstnetwork node 108 (node A) and the corresponding repeater device. Thesecriteria (measurements) from all repeater devices installed on thevehicle 802 may be then processed and analyzed jointly, to identify theoptimal subset of repeater devices to be activated/ON. In someembodiments, such measurements may be sent to the ECU (i.e. theprocessor system) hosted on the vehicle 802 to perform the selection ofa suitable repeater device. In some other embodiments, such selectionprocess may be performed on one the first repeater device 104 or thesecond repeater device 106 (designated as master repeater device), or atthe second network node 110 (node B), or at a remote server on thenetwork (e.g. a cloud server). In some embodiments, the selectionoperation may keep only one repeater active at a time (i.e., select thebest repeater with best link quality to the node B). In some embodimentsmore than one repeater device may be activated concurrently. Forexample, in case of multi-stream and/or multi-beam configuration,multiple repeater devices may be activated concurrently, where eachactive repeater device may be optimized and configured for one or subsetof intended beams/streams to end user (i.e. node B). In some otherembodiments, a plurality of repeater devices (such as the first repeaterdevice 104 and the second repeater device 106) may be activeconcurrently, to provide signals to the end user, such as the secondnetwork node 110 (Node B) concurrently even for the same data stream.This embodiment may be utilized for cases that provide additionaldiversity on the same stream and when the end user such as the secondnetwork node 110 (Node B) is capable of processing/re-solving thesignals coming from different repeaters (e.g., different non-overlappingbeams, equalization, etc.), so the self-interference between data pathsprovided through multiple active repeaters may be mitigated.

It is to be understood that various embodiments and implementationsdescribed, for example, in FIGS. 1 to 7, including multi-beam,multi-stream, spatial multiplexing, dual-polarization, spatialdiversity, multi-hop repeaters, multi-arrays nodes, may be applied tothe embodiment described in FIG. 8. It is to be understood by a personof ordinary skill in the art that although a car is shown as the vehicle802, the vehicle 802 use case may be extended to other use cases 1)mobile vehicles (train, bus, airplane, etc.), or 2) stationary networknodes and repeater devices, where there is mobility/change in thesurrounding environment.

FIG. 9 is a network environment of a communication system with arepeater system, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 9 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1 to 8. With reference to FIG. 9, there is shown a communication system900 that may include a repeater system that includes a receiver (Rx)sub-system 902A and a transmitter (Tx) sub-system 902B. There is furthershown the first network node 108 (i.e. node A) and the second networknode 110 (i.e. node B). In FIG. 9, a multi-array repeater partitioningis described, for example, in the communication system 900.

In this embodiment, there is described how several antenna arrays withina plurality of repeater devices within a network may be partitioned. Asshown, the repeater system (logical view of repeater components) mayinclude receiving antenna arrays 904A to 904D (e.g., Repeater-RX #1, #2,#3, #4) in the Rx sub-system 902A and transmitting antenna arrays 906Aand 906B (e.g., Repeater-TX #1, #2) in the Tx sub-system 902B. Ingeneral, the number of receiving antenna arrays may be larger than thenumber of transmitting arrays.

In accordance with an embodiment, one or more implementations may bejointly or separately supported by the communication system 900. Forexample, in a first implementation, each receiving antenna arrays 904Ato 904D in the Rx sub-system 902A may reside inside a separateenclosure, computer board, and/or maybe physically separated from othercomponents and modules. Similarly, each transmitting antenna arrays 906Aand 906B (e.g., Repeater-Tx #1, #2) in the Tx sub-system 902B may resideinside a separate enclosure, computer board, and/or may be physicallyseparated from other components and modules. Alternatively, pairs ofrepeaters Rx and Tx (e.g., Repeater-Rx #1 and Repeater-Tx #1) may beresiding inside same enclosure, computer board. In some otherembodiments, the Tx and Rx portions of a repeater device may be residingin separate enclosure to better address deployment requirements andconstraints. In some embodiments, although the receiving antenna arrays904A to 904D (i.e. repeaters-Rx #1-4) may be residing in differentenclosures/boards, they may be coordinated/operated jointly by a centralprocessor, as referred to as a processor 908. In such embodiments, thereceiving antenna arrays 904A to 904D (repeaters-RX #1-4) may bephysically separated and deployed, but may be in the same control logicdomain, controlled by the processor 908.

In some embodiments related to exemplary scenario 800 described in FIG.8, the Rx sub-system 902A may include several antenna array modulesmounted on the vehicle's exterior, facing outwards for improvedconnectivity towards base stations. The Tx sub-system 902B may includeseveral antenna array modules mounted on the vehicle's interior, facinginwards for best connectivity towards a user equipment (e.g., the secondnetwork node 110, i.e., Node B) inside the vehicle 802. In suchembodiments, the processor 908 may be configured to monitor themeasurements (i.e. determine plurality of criteria) conducted by eachreceiving antenna arrays 904A to 904D (i.e. repeaters-Rx #1-4), andselect which of those receiving antenna arrays 904A to 904D havecomparatively best signal quality from the first network node 108 (nodeA). The processor 908 may be further configured to activate a subset ofthe receiving antenna arrays 904A to 904D, and route their signalsthrough the cross-connectivity fabric to transmitting antenna arrays,such as one of the transmitting antenna arrays 906A and 906B (e.g.,Repeater-Tx #1, #2) .

In some embodiments, each “repeater RX #N” (i.e. each of the receivingantenna arrays 904A to 904D) may be operated independent of otherrepeater sub-systems and antenna arrays. In some other embodiments, thereceiving antenna arrays 904A to 904D may be operated and coordinatedjointly as a bigger network of collaborative repeater sub-systems.Similar embodiments apply to the transmitting arrays, such as thetransmitting antenna arrays 906A and 906B depicted in the FIG. 9.

In some embodiments, the receiving antenna arrays 904A to 904D(“repeater RX #N”, N=1,2,3,4) may each have configurable beam patterns,and each may be capable of receiving multiple beams or streams orpolarizations, concurrently. Such configurable beam patterns may beimplemented through different implementation methods, such as classic RFphase shifters or through other means of phase shifting to pass thesignal through individual radiating elements.

In some embodiments, the two sub-systems, such as the Rx sub-system 902Aand the Tx sub-system 902B may reside inside same enclosure, whilefacing different directions/orientations so some antenna arrays may facethe first network node 108 (node A), while other antenna arrays may facethe second network node 110 (node B). In some embodiments, the receivingantenna arrays 904A to 904D and the transmitting antenna arrays 906A and906B (i.e. Tx and Rx arrays) may reside on the same printed computerboard (PCB), to create low-cost compact solution. In some otherembodiments, the corresponding TX and RX arrays may reside insidedifferent enclosures (to facilitate certain deployment conditions andrequirements). In this case, the two enclosures may be coupled togetherthrough some wired connection, wireless connection, or short-rangecoupling (e.g., magnetic coupling). One such example, with no loss ofgenerality, may be where the Rx sub-system 902A may be placed outside abuilding/window, whereas a corresponding Tx sub-system 902B may beplaced inside the building/window, where two sub-systems 902A and 902Bmay be then connected to each other, over copper cable, coaxial cable,an optic fiber, and the like.

In some embodiments, the “configurable cross-connectivity” fabric (CCF)may be configurable to connect any of “repeater RX #N” (for N=1,2,3,4)(i.e. any of receiving antenna arrays 904A to 904D) to any of “repeaterTX #N” {N=1,2,) (i.e. any of the transmitting antenna arrays 906A and906B). In some embodiments, this fabric may route multiple streams/beamsfrom a subset of receiving arrays to a subset of transmitting arrays. Insome embodiments, the signals being routed from a receiving array to atransmitting array may be multiplied by an equivalent complex value, soboth amplitude and/or phase of the signal passing through is adjusted.In some other embodiments, the cross-connectivity may effectivelyimplement a matrix operation of size [Aij]_(M×N) where the set ofstreams received by plurality of array (N streams) are processed by anM×N matrix (M, being number of streams transmitting through the Marrays). This matrix operation may be implemented in digital domain, RFdomain, or some intermediate frequency (IF). In some embodiments, someelements in the matrix may be zero, whereas in some other embodimentsthe elements may be full complex values (adjusting both gain and phase).

In some embodiments, the cross-connectivity fabric may be carryingsignals in digital baseband I/O data, or analog baseband I/O data, orsignal at some intermediate frequency (IF), or same original carrierfrequency (no frequency shift). In Examples of the physical connectivitymedium may include coaxial cables, thin coaxial cable, tracks on PCB orpackage, or very long coax cables placed/routed between rooms orbuildings.

FIGS. 10, 11, and 12 are illustrations that depict dynamic allocation ofrepeater devices of a repeater system in a network, in accordance withan exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. FIGS. 10, 11, and 12 areexplained in conjunction with elements from FIGS. 1 to 9.

With reference to FIG. 10, there is shown a network environment 1000 inwhich repeater devices 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1008, may be utilized in anetwork (licensed or unlicensed bands) for expanding coverage andthroughput to end user devices. This network may be a commercialcellular network operated by a service provider, or may be a network ofWi-Fi access points operated locally as a private network. In anexample, the source network nodes 1010 and 1012 (nodes A and A′) may betwo cellular base stations, each servicing many end users within theircell coverage (e.g. cell A and cell A′). Each cell has deployed tworepeater devices as shown, for example, to improve their coverage and/orcapacity. It is to be understood by a person of ordinary skill in theart that although only two end users, such as destination network nodes1014 and 1016 (Node B1 and Node B2) are shown within cell A, theembodiment may also extend to cell A having many user equipment, wheresome are connected through some repeater devices, whereas some other areconnected to the source network node 1010 (Node A) directly. There arealso shown destination network nodes 1018 and 1020 (node B′1 and B′2) inthe cell A′.

In some embodiments, an assignment of one or more repeater devices tothe network nodes, may be dynamic and change dynamically over time,depending on changes in the environment (i.e. signal propagationchanges) and/or changes in network traffic demands (or network trafficprofile or network traffic distribution). By reallocating (orre-assignment) of one or more repeater devices between the sourcenetwork nodes 1010 and 1012 (nodes A and A′), effectively the cellboundaries (propagation reach) of the source network nodes 1010 and 1012(nodes A and A′) change dynamically by re-assignment of alreadyinstalled repeater devices (such as the repeater devices 1002, 1004,1006, and 1008). In accordance with an embodiment, each of the repeaterdevices 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1008, may be further configured to detecta change in the surrounding environment and/or a network traffic demandwithin a corresponding cell (such as cell A and A′). Thereafter, onemaster repeater device, or any one of the repeater devices 1002, 1004,1006, and 1008 may initiate assignment or re-assignment. For example,the repeater device 1002 may be further configured to update anassignment or a re-assignment of a plurality of other repeater devices,such as the repeater device 1004, to the source network node 1010 (nodeA) or the source network node 1012 (node A′) based on the detectedchange in the surrounding environment and/or the network traffic demand.Alternatively, the assignment or re-assignment may be controlled by thenetwork nodes, such as the source network nodes 1010 and 1012, thedestination network nodes 1014, 1016, 1018, 1020, or remote server incloud.

In some embodiments, the reallocation (or the re-assignment) of therepeater devices 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1008 between the source networknode 1010 (node A) or the source network node 1012 (node A′), may beexecuted based on one or a plurality of metrics, given as follows:

-   -   1) a change in propagation properties between the source network        node 1010 (node A) and the repeater device 1004 (i.e. repeater        #A2),    -   2) a change in propagation properties between the source network        node 1012 (node A′) and the repeater device 1006 (i.e. repeater        #A′1),    -   3) a change in propagation properties between the repeater        device 1004 (repeater #A2 and the destination network node 1016        (Node B2),    -   4) a change in propagation properties between the repeater        device 1006 (i.e. repeater #A′1) and the destination network        node 1018 (Node B′1),    -   5) an overall traffic loading on cell A,    -   6) an overall traffic loading on cell A′,    -   7) an allocation of spectral frequency channels between the        cells, such as the cells A and A′,    -   8) an availability of cell capacity, and/or    -   9) a change in traffic demands of end-user devices (such as the        destination network node 1016 (Node B2), and/or the destination        network node 1018 (Node B′1), or other network nodes close to        the boundaries of two cells A and A′).

FIG. 11 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIG. 10 and incontinuation to the FIG. 10. With reference to FIG. 11, there is shown anetwork environment 1100 in which the both the repeater device 1004 andcorresponding end-user device(s), such as the destination network node1016 (Node B2) located at the boundary of the cell A (in FIG. 10) aredynamically assigned (i.e. re-allocated) to adjacent cell, cell A′ inthe FIG. 11.

FIG. 12 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIG. 10 and incontinuation to the FIG. 10. With reference to FIG. 12, there is shown anetwork environment 1200 in which only the repeater device 1004 locatedat the boundary of the cell A (in FIG. 10) is dynamically assigned (i.e.re-allocated) to adjacent cell, cell A′ in the FIG. 12 (from previouslyassigned cell A in FIG. 10).

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary repeater device of a repeater system, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 13 is explained inconjunction with elements from FIGS. 1 to 12. With reference to FIG. 13,there is shown a block diagram 1300 of a repeater device 1302. Therepeater device 1302 may be an example of a repeater device used in therepeater system 102, 302, 402, 502, 602, 702 in FIGS. 1 to 12. Forexample, the repeater device 1302 may correspond to the first repeaterdevice 104 or the second repeater device 106. The repeater device 1302may include a control section 1304 and a front-end RF section 1306. Thecontrol section 1304 may include control circuitry 1308 and a memory1310. The control section 1304 may be communicatively coupled to thefront-end RF section 1306. The front-end RF section 1306 may includefront-end RF circuitry 1312. The front-end RF circuitry 1312 may furtherinclude a receiver circuitry 1314, one or more receiving antenna arrays1316, a transmitter circuitry 1318, and one or more transmitting antennaarrays 1320.

The control circuitry 1308 may be configured to execute variousoperations of the repeater device 1302. The control circuitry 1308include suitable logic, circuitry, and/or interfaces configured tocontrol various components of the front-end RF circuitry 1312. Therepeater device 1302 may be a programmable device, where the controlcircuitry 1308 may execute instructions stored in the memory 1310.Example of the implementation of the control circuitry 1308 may include,but are not limited to an embedded processor, a microcontroller, aspecialized digital signal processor (DSP), a Reduced Instruction SetComputing (RISC) processor, an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor,and/or other processors, or state machines.

The memory 1310 may be configured store values, such as the plurality ofmeasurements associated with each of the first network node 108, thesecond network node 110, and various repeater devices of the repeatersystem 102, 302, 402, 502, 602, or 702. The memory 1310 may be furtherconfigured store the plurality of signal parameters (e.g. the complexcoefficients). Examples of the implementation of the memory 1310 mayinclude, but not limited to, a random access memory (RAM), a dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), aprocessor cache, a thyristor random access memory (T-RAM), azero-capacitor random access memory (Z-RAM), a read only memory (ROM), ahard disk drive (HDD), a secure digital (SD) card, a flash drive, cachememory, and/or other non-volatile memory. It is to be understood by aperson having ordinary skill in the art that the control section 1304may further include one or more other components, such as an analog todigital converter (ADC), a digital to analog (DAC) converter, a cellularmodem, and the like, known in the art, which are omitted for brevity.

The front-end RF circuitry 1312 includes the receiver circuitry 1314 andthe transmitter circuitry 1318. The receiver circuitry 1314 is coupledto the one or more receiving antenna arrays 1316, or may be a part ofthe receiver chain. The transmitter circuitry 1318 may be coupled to theone or more transmitting antenna arrays 1320. The front-end RF circuitry1312 supports multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operations, and maybe configured to execute MIMO communication with a plurality of end-userdevices. The MIMO communication may be executed at a sub 6 gigahertz(GHz) frequency or even mmWave frequency.

The receiver circuitry 1314 may be configured to control the one or morereceiving antenna arrays 1316 which are configured to receive one ormore beams of RF signals carrying one or more data streams from a sourcenetwork node (e.g. the first network node 108 or node A) via a firstcommunication path. In an example, the receiver circuitry 1314 mayinclude a cascading receiver chain comprising various components forbaseband signal processing or digital signal processing. For example,the receiver circuitry 1314 may include a cascading receiver chaincomprising various components (e.g., the one or more receiving antennaarrays 1316, a set of low noise amplifiers (LNA), a set of receiverfront end phase shifters, and a set of power combiners) for the signalreception (not shown for brevity).

The transmitter circuitry 1318 may be configured to further forward thereceived one or more beams of RF signals carrying the one or more datastreams to a destination network node (e.g. the second network node 110or node B). The transmitter circuitry 1318 may be configured to controlthe one or more one or more transmitting antenna arrays 1320. In anexample, transmitter circuitry 1318 may include a cascading transmitterchain comprising various components for baseband signal processing ordigital signal processing.

In various embodiments, described, for example, in FIGS. 1 to 12, wherethe one or more receiving antenna arrays 1316 receives a signal andre-transmits the signal through the one or more transmitting antennaarrays 1320, additional processing/operation may be applied to thesignal between the one or more receiving antenna arrays 1316 and thecorresponding transmitting array of the one or more transmitting antennaarrays 1320. For example, the received signal may be: 1) frequencyshifted to a frequency other than input carrier frequency, 2) passedthrough phase and gain adjustment, such as the gain and phase controloperation 202 may be applied, 3) passed through low-pass or band-passfiltering, 4) digitized and processed in digital domain beforere-transmission, or 5) digitized, de-modulated, re-modulated andre-transmitted.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary network node, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosure. FIG. 14 is explained in conjunction with elements fromFIGS. 1 to 13. With reference to FIG. 14, there is shown a block diagram1400 of a network node 1402. The network node 1402 may correspond to thefirst network node 108 or the second network node 110 (FIG. 1). Thenetwork node 1402 may include a control section 1404 and a front-end RFsection 1406. The control section 1404 may include control circuitry1408 and a memory 1410. The control section 1404 may be communicativelycoupled to the front-end RF section 1406. The front-end RF section 1406may include front-end RF circuitry 1412. The front-end RF circuitry 1412may further include a receiver circuitry 1414 and a transmittercircuitry 1416. The front-end RF circuitry 1412 may further include oneor more antenna or antenna arrays depending on implementation (not shownfor the sake of brevity). Examples of the implementation of the controlcircuitry 1408, the memory 1410 may correspond to the examples ofimplementation of the control circuitry 1308 and the memory 1310,respectively.

The front-end RF circuitry 1412 includes the receiver circuitry 1414 andthe transmitter circuitry 1416. The receiver circuitry 1414 may beconfigured to receive one or more beams/streams from one or morerepeater devices, such as the repeater device 1302, or directly fromanother network nodes in a network. The front-end RF circuitry 1412supports MIMO processing and operations, and may be configured toexecute MIMO communication with the one or more repeater devices andend-user devices. The MIMO communication may be executed at a sub 6gigahertz (GHz) frequency or mmWave frequency. The transmitter circuitry1416 may be configured to transmit one or more beams of RF signalscarrying one or more data streams to a destination network node (node B)via one or multiple communication paths through the one or more repeaterdevices of a repeater system (e.g. the repeater system 102, 302, 402,502, 602, or 702).

FIGS. 15A and 15B, collectively, is a flowchart that illustrates amethod for high performance communication, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure. FIGS. 15A and 15B, are explained inconjunction with elements from FIGS. 1 to 14. With reference to FIGS.15A and 15B, there is shown a flowchart 1500 comprising exemplaryoperations 1502 through 1512.

At 1502, a first beam of radio frequency (RF) signal may be received bythe first repeater device 104 from the first network node 108 via afirst communication path. At 1504, a second beam of RF signal may bereceived by the second repeater device 110 from the first network node108 via a second communication path. At 1506, the second repeater device106 may be controlled by the first repeater device 104 for executingvarious operations 1506A to 1506D. At 1506A, the first beam of RF signaland the second beam of RF signal may be concurrently provided to thesecond network node 110, by the first repeater device 104 and the secondrepeater device 106 of the repeater system 102. At 1506B, a plurality ofmeasurements associated with each of the first network node 108, thesecond network node 110, the first repeater device 104, and the secondrepeater device 106, may be acquired. At 1506C, a plurality of signalparameters may be selected at the first repeater device 104 and thesecond repeater device 106 for the first beam of RF signal and thesecond beam of RF signal respectively, based on the acquired pluralityof measurements such that a cross-leakage of the first beam of RF signalon the second beam of RF signal and vice-versa at the second networknode 110 is reduced. At 1506D, a gain and a phase of the first beam ofRF signal and the second beam of RF signal may be adjusted based on theselected plurality of signal parameters such that concurrent recovery ofdata from the first beam of RF signal and the second beam of RF signalis achieved at the second network node 110.

At 1508, an additional link (e.g. the additional link 708) may beestablished by the first repeater device 104 with the second repeaterdevice 106 by which a first data stream carried by the first beam of RFsignal is provided to the second network node 110 through the firstrepeater device 104 as well as the second repeater device 106, and asecond data stream carried by the second beam of RF signal is furtherprovided to the second network node 110 concurrent to the first datastream via the second repeater device 106. At 1510, a change in asurrounding environment and/or a network traffic demand within acorresponding cell may be detected by at least one of the first repeaterdevice 104 or the second repeater device 106. At 1512, an assignment ora re-assignment of a plurality of other repeater devices to the firstnetwork node 108 or the second network node 110 may be updated by thefirst repeater device 104 based on the detected change in thesurrounding environment and/or the network traffic demand.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer implementedinstructions that when executed by a computer causes a communicationapparatus to execute operations as disclosed herein. Exemplaryoperations may comprise receiving, by the first repeater device 104 ofthe repeater system 102, a first beam of radio frequency (RF) signalfrom the first network node 108 via a first communication path. Thesecond repeater device 106 of the repeater system 102 may receive asecond beam of RF signal from the first network node 108 via a secondcommunication path. The first repeater device 104 may be control thesecond repeater device 106 to: concurrently provide the first beam of RFsignal and the second beam of RF signal to the second network node 110;acquire a plurality of measurements associated with each of the firstnetwork node 108, the second network node 110, the first repeater device104, and the second repeater device 106; select a plurality of signalparameters at the first repeater device 104 and the second repeaterdevice 106 for the first beam of RF signal and the second beam of RFsignal respectively, based on the acquired plurality of measurementssuch that a cross-leakage of the first beam of RF signal on the secondbeam of RF signal and vice-versa at the second network node 110 isreduced; and adjust a gain and a phase of the first beam of RF signaland the second beam of RF signal based on the selected plurality ofsignal parameters such that a concurrent recovery of data from the firstbeam of RF signal and the second beam of RF signal is achieved at thesecond network node 110.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may include a repeater system, forexample, the repeater system 102 302, 402, 502, 602, or 702 (FIGS. 1 to7). The repeater system includes the first repeater device 104configured to receive a first beam of radio frequency (RF) signal from afirst network node 108 via a first communication path. The repeatersystem further includes the second repeater device 106 configured toreceive a second beam of RF signal from the first network node 108 via asecond communication path, where the first repeater device 104 is amaster repeater device, and may be configured to synchronize and controlthe second repeater device 106 to: concurrently provide the first beamof RF signal and the second beam of RF signal to the second network node110; acquire a plurality of measurements associated with each of thefirst network node 108, the second network node 110, the first repeaterdevice 104, and the second repeater device 106; select a plurality ofsignal parameters at the first repeater device 104 and the secondrepeater device 106 for the first beam of RF signal and the second beamof RF signal respectively, based on the acquired plurality ofmeasurements such that a cross-leakage of the first beam of RF signal onthe second beam of RF signal and vice-versa at the second network node110 is reduced; and adjust a gain and a phase of the first beam of RFsignal and the second beam of RF signal based on the selected pluralityof signal parameters such that a concurrent recovery of data from thefirst beam of RF signal and the second beam of RF signal is achieved atthe second network node 110.

In accordance with an embodiment, the plurality of measurementscomprises a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first beam of RF signaland the second beam of RF signal at the second network node 110, achannel impulse response corresponding to the first beam of RF signaland the second beam of RF signal at the second network node 110, across-leakage between the first beam of RF signal and the second beam ofRF signal measured at the second network node 110, an absolute signalpower corresponding to the first beam of RF signal and the second beamof RF signal at the second network node 110, required SNR valuesdepending on a modulation-coding-scheme used for the first beam of RFsignal and the second beam of RF signal, a first SNR value for the firstbeam of RF signal received at the first repeater device 104, and asecond SNR value for second beam of RF signal received at the secondrepeater device 106.

In accordance with an embodiment, the plurality of measurements may beacquired based on in-band communication between the first repeaterdevice 104 and each of the first network node 108, the second networknode 110 110, and the second repeater device 106. In accordance withanother embodiment, the plurality of measurements may be acquired basedon out-of-band communication between the first repeater device 104 andeach of the first network node 108, the second network node 110 110, andthe second repeater device 106. The first beam RF signal carry a firstdata stream and the second beam RF signal carry a second data stream,and wherein the first data stream and the second data stream areidentical. In another implementation, the first beam RF signal carry afirst data stream and the second beam RF signal carry a second datastream, and wherein the first data stream is different from the seconddata stream.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first beam of RF signal carrying afirst data stream is received from the first network node 108 in a firstpolarization type and re-transmitted to the second network node 110 in asecond polarization type that is different than the first polarizationtype. The second beam of RF signal carrying a second data stream isreceived from the first network node 108 in a first polarization typeand re-transmitted to the second network node 110 in a secondpolarization type that is different than the first polarization type.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first repeater device 104 may befurther configured to establish the additional link 708 with the secondrepeater device 106 by which a first data stream carried by the firstbeam of RF signal is provided to the second network node 110 through thefirst repeater device 104 as well as the second repeater device 106, anda second data stream carried by the second beam of RF signal is furtherprovided to the second network node 110 concurrent to the first datastream via the second repeater device 106.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first repeater device 104 and thesecond repeater device 106 are mounted on the vehicle 802, and whereinthe first repeater device 104 in synchronization to the second repeaterdevice 106 may be further configured to select one or more beamformingschemes to illuminate space inside the vehicle 802 such that both anuplink and a downlink communication is established between the firstnetwork node 108 and a user device corresponding to the second networknode present within the vehicle 802. The first repeater device 104 andthe second repeater device 106 may be mounted on the vehicle 802, andwhere at least one of the first repeater device 104 and the secondrepeater device 106 may be further configured to be activated ordeactivated based on a visibility status to the first network node 108when the vehicle 802 in in motion.

In accordance with an embodiment, each of the first repeater device 104and the second repeater device 106 may be further configured todetermine a plurality of criteria when the vehicle 802 in in motion, andwhere one of the first repeater device 104 and the second repeaterdevice 106 may be activated or deactivated based on the determinedplurality of criteria when the vehicle 802 in in motion. The firstrepeater device 104 and the second repeater device 106 may be furtherconfigured to detect a change in the surrounding environment and/or anetwork traffic demand within a corresponding cell. The first repeaterdevice 104 is further configured to update an assignment or are-assignment of a plurality of other repeater devices to the firstnetwork node 108 or the second network node 110 based on the detectedchange in the surrounding environment and/or the network traffic demand.

While various embodiments described in the present disclosure have beendescribed above, it should be understood that they have been presentedby way of example, and not limitation. It is to be understood thatvarious changes in form and detail can be made therein without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In addition to using hardware(e.g., within or coupled to a central processing unit (“CPU”),microprocessor, micro controller, digital signal processor, processorcore, system on chip (“SOC”) or any other device), implementations mayalso be embodied in software (e.g. computer readable code, program code,and/or instructions disposed in any form, such as source, object ormachine language) disposed for example in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium configured to store the software. Such softwarecan enable, for example, the function, fabrication, modeling,simulation, description and/or testing of the apparatus and methodsdescribe herein. For example, this can be accomplished through the useof general program languages (e.g., C, C++), hardware descriptionlanguages (HDL) including Verilog HDL, VHDL, and so on, or otheravailable programs. Such software can be disposed in any knownnon-transitory computer-readable medium, such as semiconductor, magneticdisc, or optical disc (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.). The software canalso be disposed as computer data embodied in a non-transitorycomputer-readable transmission medium (e.g., solid state memory anyother non-transitory medium including digital, optical, analog-basedmedium, such as removable storage media). Embodiments of the presentdisclosure may include methods of providing the apparatus describedherein by providing software describing the apparatus and subsequentlytransmitting the software as a computer data signal over a communicationnetwork including the internet and intranets.

It is to be further understood that the system described herein may beincluded in a semiconductor intellectual property core, such as amicroprocessor core (e.g., embodied in HDL) and transformed to hardwarein the production of integrated circuits. Additionally, the systemdescribed herein may be embodied as a combination of hardware andsoftware. Thus, the present disclosure should not be limited by any ofthe above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A repeater system, comprising: a first repeaterdevice configured to receive a first beam of radio frequency (RF) signalfrom a first network node; a second repeater device configured toreceive a second beam of RF signal from the first network node, whereinthe first repeater device is configured to: transmit the first beam ofRF signal and the second beam of RF signal to a second network node;select a plurality of signal parameters at the first repeater device andthe second repeater device for the first beam of RF signal and thesecond beam of RF signal respectively, based on a plurality ofmeasurements such that a cross-leakage of the first beam of RF signal onthe second beam of RF signal and vice-versa at the second network nodeis reduced, wherein the plurality of measurements are associated with atleast one of the first network node, the second network node, the firstrepeater device, or the second repeater device; and maximize asignal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first beam of RF signal and thesecond beam of RF signal at the second network node based on theselected plurality of signal parameters.
 2. The repeater systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the plurality of measurements comprisesthe SNR of the first beam of RF signal and the second beam of RF signalat the second network node, a channel impulse response corresponding tothe first beam of RF signal and the second beam of RF signal at thesecond network node, a cross-leakage between the first beam of RF signaland the second beam of RF signal measured at the second network node, anabsolute signal power corresponding to the first beam of RF signal andthe second beam of RF signal at the second network node, required SNRvalues depending on a modulation-coding-scheme used for the first beamof RF signal and the second beam of RF signal, a first SNR value for thefirst beam of RF signal received at the first repeater device, and asecond SNR value for second beam of RF signal received at the secondrepeater device.
 3. The repeater system according to claim 1, whereinthe plurality of measurements are acquired based on in-bandcommunication between the first repeater device and each of the firstnetwork node, the second network node, and the second repeater device.4. The repeater system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality ofmeasurements are acquired based on out-of-band communication between thefirst repeater device and each of the first network node, the secondnetwork node, and the second repeater device.
 5. The repeater systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the first beam RF signal carry a firstdata stream and the second beam RF signal carry a second data stream,and wherein the first data stream and the second data stream areidentical.
 6. The repeater system according to claim 1, wherein thefirst beam RF signal carry a first data stream and the second beam RFsignal carry a second data stream, and wherein the first data stream isdifferent from the second data stream.
 7. The repeater system accordingto claim 1, wherein the first beam of RF signal carrying a first datastream is received from the first network node in a first polarizationtype and re-transmitted to the second network node in a secondpolarization type that is different than the first polarization type. 8.The repeater system according to claim 1, wherein the second beam of RFsignal carrying a second data stream is received from the first networknode in a first polarization type and re-transmitted to the secondnetwork node in a second polarization type that is different than thefirst polarization type.
 9. The repeater system according to claim 1,wherein the first repeater device is further configured to establish anadditional link with the second repeater device by which a first datastream carried by the first beam of RF signal is provided to the secondnetwork node through the first repeater device as well as the secondrepeater device, and a second data stream carried by the second beam ofRF signal is further provided to the second network node concurrent tothe first data stream via the second repeater device.
 10. The repeatersystem according to claim 1, wherein the first repeater device comprisesa first receiving antenna array and a first transmitting antenna array,and wherein the second repeater device comprises a second receivingantenna array and a second transmitting antenna array.
 11. The repeatersystem according to claim 1, wherein the first repeater device and thesecond repeater device are mounted on a vehicle, and wherein the firstrepeater device in synchronization to the second repeater device areconfigured to select one or more beamforming schemes to illuminate spaceinside the vehicle such that both an uplink and a downlink communicationis established between the first network node and a user devicecorresponding to a second communication node within the vehicle.
 12. Therepeater system according to claim 11, wherein the first repeater deviceand the second repeater device are mounted on a vehicle, and wherein atleast one of the first repeater device and the second repeater device isfurther configured to be activated or deactivated based on a visibilitystatus to the first network node when the vehicle in in motion.
 13. Therepeater system according to claim 12, wherein each of the firstrepeater device and the second repeater device is further configured todetermine a plurality of criteria when the vehicle in in motion, andwherein one of the first repeater device and the second repeater deviceis activated or deactivated based on the determined plurality ofcriteria when the vehicle in in motion.
 14. The repeater systemaccording to claim 1, wherein each of the first repeater device and thesecond repeater device is further configured to detect a change in asurrounding environment and/or a network traffic demand within acorresponding cell, wherein the first repeater device is furtherconfigured to update an assignment or a re-assignment of a plurality ofother repeater devices to the first network node or the second networknode based on the detected change in the surrounding environment and/orthe network traffic demand.
 15. A method implemented in a repeatersystem, the method comprising: receiving, by a first repeater device ofthe repeater system, a first beam of radio frequency (RF) signal from afirst network node; receiving, by a second repeater device of therepeater system, a second beam of RF signal from the first network node;and controlling, by the first repeater device, the second repeaterdevice for: transmitting the first beam of RF signal and the second beamof RF signal to a second network node; selecting a plurality of signalparameters at the first repeater device and the second repeater devicefor the first beam of RF signal and the second beam of RF signalrespectively, based on a plurality of measurements such that across-leakage of the first beam of RF signal on the second beam of RFsignal and vice-versa at the second network node is reduced, wherein theplurality of measurements are associated with at least one of the firstnetwork node, the second network node, the first repeater device, or thesecond repeater device; and maximizing a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) ofthe first beam of RF signal and the second beam of RF signal at thesecond network node based on the selected plurality of signalparameters.
 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the first beamRF signal carry a first data stream and the second beam RF signal carrya second data stream, and wherein the first data stream and the seconddata stream are identical.
 17. The method according to claim 15, whereinthe first beam RF signal carry a first data stream and the second beamRF signal carry a second data stream, and wherein the first data streamis different from the second data stream.
 18. The method according toclaim 15, further comprising establishing, by the first repeater device,an additional link with the second repeater device by which a first datastream carried by the first beam of RF signal is provided to the secondnetwork node through the first repeater device as well as the secondrepeater device, and a second data stream carried by the second beam ofRF signal is further provided to the second network node concurrent tothe first data stream via the second repeater device.
 19. The methodaccording to claim 15, further comprising: detecting, by at least one ofthe first repeater device or the second repeater device, a change in asurrounding environment and/or a network traffic demand within acorresponding cell; and updating, by the first repeater device, anassignment or a re-assignment of a plurality of other repeater devicesto the first network node or the second network node based on thedetected change in the surrounding environment and/or the networktraffic demand.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium havingstored thereon, computer implemented instructions that when executed bya computer in a communication apparatus causes the communicationapparatus to execute operations, the operations comprising: receiving,by a first repeater device, a first beam of radio frequency (RF) signalfrom a first network node; receiving, by a second repeater device, asecond beam of RF signal from the first network node; transmitting thefirst beam of RF signal and the second beam of RF signal to a secondnetwork node; selecting a plurality of signal parameters at the firstrepeater device and the second repeater device for the first beam of RFsignal and the second beam of RF signal respectively, based on aplurality of measurements such that a cross-leakage of the first beam ofRF signal on the second beam of RF signal and vice-versa at the secondnetwork node is reduced, wherein the plurality of measurements areassociated with at least one of the first network node, the secondnetwork node, the first repeater device, or the second repeater device;and maximizing a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first beam of RFsignal and the second beam of RF signal at the second network node basedon the selected plurality of signal parameters.